D. Cheifetz Newsletter | 2.29.20 | New Paintings
Sent: 2/29/2020 1:42:55 PM

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Dear Subscribers,

Greetings. First newsletter of 2020. Lots to share with you.

My first workshop of the year was at Winslow Art Center on Bainbridge Island, WA. Here is my demonstration. First, my setup:

My approach on this painting demonstration is fundamentally simple. My focus is the green apple. The dark background serves the high value of the light side of the apple. The supporting objects serve to maintain/increase focus on the green apple while adding depth and interest.

Nutshell:

Focus: Greens (expanding to yellow) and high value (light), minority of space in the composition. Most refined/detailed portion of painting.

Background and supporting objects: Reds (expanding to purple) and low value (dark), majority of space in the painting. Less refined/detailed than focal area.

Result: A composition with dramatic focus. (Hopefully ;) )

Now the tricky part...Making it happen.

First stage: Shape of shadow (in umber). Then I start painting in full color, starting with the focal area.

Next stage. Painting radially outwards from the focus. I start with the focus first (lightest light, darkest dark, most saturated color) so that I have the information necessary to start making decisions about the surrounding areas which are there to SERVE THE FOCUS.

Next stage. I'm alternating back and forth between knife and brush for the benefit of the class. When using both, I just need to be mindful that the thickest paint needs to be at the focus.

And the finished demonstration, "Green Apple" (9x12 oil on panel):

I'll be returning to teach at this venue on the same weekend next year!

MLK JR. Day Weekend 2021

A new still life painting. This one was experimentation-heavy. Sometimes that happens. The shifts in this process were sort of extreme.

The Setup:

Shape of shadow:

Planned focal area is the green glass and adjacent orange:

Dark background to compliment the lighter green coming through the glass and the bright adjacent orange. BUT: in order to justify that light green coming through the glass, there needs to be sufficient light in the background behind it. ALSO: the dark makes the forward orange and highlights on the picture pop in a distracting way.

Starting to lighten the background on the left side in order to calm down the value range on that side. Starting to refine focal area:

Punching green light in translucent glass:

Now trying the reverse arrangement: Darker/lower key on left side, lighter background behind focus which accentuates the dark shapes of the green glass. BUT: this starts to de-emphasize the light green and the brightness of the orange. Left side has improved as I've shrunk value range towards the middle for both background AND pitcher/front orange, which helps to make them more subtle in comparison to the focal right.

Back to dark background on right side. BUT: now the light green coming through the glass doesn't make any rational sense, unless we're dealing with magic. In retrospect, this doesn't bother me, but at the time it did.

Cool light behind objects to start to justify the light green in the glass, extending the purple cloth to tie it all together and add depth:

At this point I feel that the light green and bright orange are competing too much, and I decide to elevate the orange as the primary focal light, while the green glass can be a bold dark shape against the mid-value background. Adding some atmospheric fog:

Finally, I refine the objects and fix the gradient of color and value along the strip of purple cloth.

And the finished painting, "Passage and Haze" (9x12 oil on panel):

This painting will be available and on view at:

San Francisco

STUDIO GALLERY

Wish You Were Here: work from artists who've left the Bay Area
March 19 - April 13, 2020
Opening reception: Sunday, March 22nd, 3-6 pm

New cityscape. After I finished, I realized that this was my first cityscape since mid-2017. How time flies....

I don't like to accept specific commissions very often. Half because of my stubborn ideas about artistic integrity (the need to experiment on the fly without constraint), and half because of photo reference issues (in the case of landscapes and portraits). However, this time it worked out. I was excited to do this one.

Here is the client's original photo:

I saw the potential in the reference. I had a mental image and made a simple diagram of my intended color/value scheme on an overlay so that I wouldn't lose track of my goal. No digital tools for mock-up this time. I'm always looking to simplify my process. In fact, I'm planning to film a new cityscape painting tutorial with NOH/WAVE Academy this coming summer. I'll let you know.

Starting loose and organic with the knife, focal area first. The light of the middle-distance headlights and the dark of the foreground truck. Using a linen-on-aluminum-composite panel from Trekell. I love this surface:

Next stage. This is always my favorite part of painting. Something emerging out of the blank canvas.

Establishing the basic colors and proportions without getting too specific:

I begin to refine, focal area first.

I want to keep the rich reds/oranges/yellows isolated to one area, so for the red lights that are not aligned with the focal middle distance (those headlights), I make them pink/purple instead:

Gradually more and more specific. Bit by bit. As the details are added, the illusion and feeling of a real city scene starts to materialize. I feel that when I'm painting my cityscapes, the whole seems to be more than the sum of its simple/abstract parts. It is a gratifying process. In the stage below, I resolve a major issue in the foreground. Since the primary reference doesn't include this lower portion of the street surface, I needed extrapolate/create with a convincing effect of perspective:

And the finished painting, "Homeward Bound, Rochester" (12x9 oil on linen/aluminum panel):

On View in Texas

I recently sent these two paintings to RS Hanna Gallery in Fredericksburg, Texas:

Vulcan

Eclipse

If you go check out the new arrivals, this big monster is still there:

Liwy��n

Upcoming Workshops

May 1-3: Scottsdale, AZ

Scottsdale Artists' School

Still Life Composition & Painting

3-Day Workshop, $525

May Registration

October 9-11: Ashburn, VA

DebK Art Home Studios

Still Life Composition & Painting

3-Day Workshop, $595

October Registration

November 9-13: Florence, Italy

Art Escape Italy

Still Life Composition & Painting

5-Day Workshop, €970

November (in Italy) Registration

JUST SOLD:

Green Apple (Demonstration)

Homeward Bound, Rochester

Thank you for reading. Until next time, Best wishes -David

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